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So it has been a while since my last DIY beauty, but I bumped into my local florist and he was selling leftover petals! So I bought a bagful for RM5 (£1) and decided to whip up a rose petal body scrub. Note: Make sure to ask your florist whether the roses have been sprayed with chemicals – you don’t want to be scrubbing your body with it!

The scent of this body scrub is absolutely lovely and homey, try it!

What you need:

Sugar (brown/coarse sugar/white)

Rose petals

Rose essential oil

Olive oil/Jojoba oil/Almond oil/Grapeseed oil

Small (mason) jar

Spoon

Step #1:

Make sure your jar is clean! With a teaspoon, scoop the sugar into the jar.

Step #2:

Fill it until it’s half full!

Step #3:

Make sure the petals are lightly rinsed. Start adding the petals into the jar.

Step #4:

Fill the jar up now with the rose petals! Doesn’t it look so beautiful already?

Step #5:

Now it’s time for the rose essential oil! Take the syringe out of the bottle. If there’s no liquid in the syringe, dip it back into the bottle and pinch the rubber top. It will slowly suck the liquid in!

Step #6:

Pinch a few drops of the rose essential oil on top of the petals (to seep). Do not add too much as it would be harsh on the skin. Optional: Add 1-3 teaspoon of olive oil/jojoba oil/almond oil/grapefruit oil if you want to have a runnier consistency.

Step#7:

Close the lid, and let the petals seep the oil.

Voila! Your easy DIY rose petal body scrub. When you wish to use the scrub, use a spoon to mix the contents. Enjoy x

Happy New Year 2014! As Valentine’s Day is one of those things people start being creative for (handmade cards, homemade truffles, etc.), I decided to make a body scrub for the event. Haha! Very unromantic maybe, but makes a great gift to loved ones! As I like things smelling fresh and citrus-y, lemon was one of my go-to ingredients. Lemongrass (also known as serai in the Malay language) has also been growing on me especially since my facial moisturiser from Bobbi Brown is lemongrass based and working well on my skin.

What is GIG? Well it stands for ‘Girls Inspired Group‘ for all bloggers to inspire one another! It also acts like a community to bloggers where we can learn from one another. As one of the Co-Founders of the group, we are starting a new series called: GIG Spotlight where we launch a topic, you write a post, be on the spotlight and show us what you and your blog’s got! The series will be every fortnight. Your post will be featured across our GIG social media platforms so in that way, we hope you will gain new readers and followers! 😀

This week’s topic? Beauty! Specifically, what I’d want in my bag. This is a pretty tough topic for me as I’m not very adventurous with beauty items (hence the cheek acne breakouts sometimes). I’ll still try, and you be the judge!

#1 A Make-Up Book

Enough said.

#2 Hair Products For My Sad Hair

The new Vidal Sassoon Pro Series line has something for everyone — whether your locks are colored or curly, dry or damaged, the six collections might just have the answer to your hair prayers (Color, Moisture, Repair, Volume, Smooth, and last but not least, Styling and Finishing)

The Pro Series line is what I need – my hair seriously needs all that help!

#3 A Fragranced Necklace

The necklaces feature secret “fragrance chambers” at the back of the piece and three different scent beads made out of high-tech fragranced resin: sweet Gardénia, spicy Orchidé, and warm Ambre. These three fragrances give the wearer the option of donning one fragrance or mixing and matching the different elements to create a custom scent.

#5 Entire O.P.I collection

O.P.I’s nail polishes are amazing – unfortunately they are just too expensive to purchase on a whim. Each colour has its own name too which is too cute! I can only dream of having the entire collection… I wonder how many there are. Do you?

I’ve always wanted to address the issue of having a big forehead, and in my case, having a 5-finger forehead. A 5-finger forehead basically means that all my fingers fit the space of one forehead. Usually one sees a lot of 3-finger or 4-finger foreheads but having a wide enough forehead for 5 fingers? (P.S: It has to be your own fingers though)

Big foreheads in my family are inherited from my Borneoan native grandmother on my father’s side. Besides the wide forehead, I also inherited the native thunder thighs and hips…sigh. I’m still self-conscious about my forehead but not as much as when I was younger. Puberty was hardest for me when my zits definitely stood out really well then!

I used to have bangs when I was a little girl but since then I’ve grown out of them into…longer fringes. One of the reasons why I don’t bother having a fringe is because of my fine hair (like Christina Ricci). Fine hair and large forehead? Probably not a great idea. I used to give horror looks to my hairdresser in the UK whenever he tried to convince me to have a fringe! Fortunately I didn’t give in to his hairdressing demands 😀 I normally wear my hair down to try not to cause too much attention to my forehead. If you’re wondering how a wide forehead looks like, here are some famous people:

Kaftan: H&M; High hair bun to distract from my large forehead on a hot day (is it even working?!)

Of what I can remember, I only know of one good friend who has mentioned that she likes it when I pull all my hair away from my face with a headband, more than letting my hair down. Normally the only reason why I’d tie my hair exposing my wide forehead is because my hair is oily (no time for a wash) or partaking in some extenuating exercise. Nevertheless, I did find the genuine comment rather nice. The thing is, I still don’t know what she sees in that look!

Anyway, as part of growing up one learns to deal with things we are born with 😉 Though, one unsatisfactory definition of a 5-finger forehead from Urban Dictionary states this:

A forehead that is 5 fingers or more wide. Commonly associated with ugly chicks and losers.

Really?! 😦 130 people voted it up too, compared to the 11 who voted it down (me included). That’s just mean. I think that definition should be changed.

Necklace: DIY

In any case, as this is also an outfit post…my parents were rushing me for my own birthday dinner a month ago so I just slipped on this kaftan dress which is very pyjama-like. It was a great idea though because I ate so much that my stomach started to bulge so the kaftan was great at covering up my gluttony 😀

I had also recently tried my hand at layered necklaces using these bright turquoise beads and I’m quite happy how my first try turned out! It also suited my kaftan well, giving me that boho-chic look I wanted.

So…what are your thoughts on 5-finger foreheads? Do you happen to know any thing associated with it (because I don’t)? I’d love to know your thoughts! xx

I was in Brunei (a different country on Borneo island) over the weekend to see my university friends and I had so much fun hanging out! I also became their nail art manicurist! Dripping paint and tuxedos were especially popular so I will have a Nail DIY tutorial soon when I get back 😀 Oh, and did I mention I’ve fallen in love with matte nail polish?! Rimmel does them so I’m going to look for them in London – who knew matte could look so amazing?!

Here are the nails I did for my girlfriends over the weekend!:

Neon aztec nail art over a black base, and covered with a matte top coat!

Pale pink base with tuxedos and a moustache on the 2nd finger so that my friend could show off her moustache whenever she shush-es someone up 😉 You can see my tuxedo and movember easy nail tutorial here!

Black base with dripping paint! I will post a tutorial soon 😀

Red base with more dripping paint! The green + red look like strawberries 🙂 I will post an easy tutorial soon!

Movember is an annual, month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other male cancer initiatives. The goal of Movember is to “change the face of men’s health”. It aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths.

Well, as I’m clearly not male and there is no way I’m growing a female-moustache, there are many ways we can show our support for Movember! You can also head on over to Movember.com to donate for this cause 😀

A friend and I made moustaches for a children’s charity in Ljubljana, Slovenia – Summer 2012

One of my ways of supporting our dear men is by showing it on my nails! Movember nails 😀 Here’s a simple DIY nail tutorial, and I have even included a step-by-step GIF on how to draw a tuxedo and moustache – lucky, lucky you! 😉 Before you browse through I’d just like to inform you that I made a little moustache boo-boo on my pinky and decided on covering it up with more tuxedo details! Not all DIYs turn out great, so having a little backup plan is always a good idea hehe.

Always, always apply base coat before you start applying nail polish!

I decided on a grey base coat because it is one colour that always looks good on men – especially on mine 😉 Besides, it’s a win-win situation as it’s an on-trend Winter colour!

If you must know, I actually applied this 1 coat the night before and fell asleep! You don’t have to do the whole thing in one sitting if you don’t have the time – besides I did mention this colour is still pretty popular.

Now, for my easy step-by-step GIF of how to draw a tuxedo on your nail! I used a black nail art pen to draw it on my thumb.

Next, on to the moustaches! I have to salute those who can draw such great moustaches on their nails! I found it so terribly difficult especially since I wanted the moustache to be facing outwards, not inwards (towards the finger). It does need a bit of patience and quick fingers – the faster you move the art pen, the smoother the lines will be.

So, once again here’s my step-by-step GIF of how to draw the moustache!

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I made a little moustache boo-boo so I covered it up with more tuxedo details (think the double-breasted buttons with waist belt). Saved! 😉

Wait for a while for your nails to dry before you add top coat and there you have it…Movember nails! 😀

Here’s my way of supporting Movember! 😀

Do pop in your post links if you are supporting Movember in any way, and I will add them to the bottom of this post throughout the month!

I am back from visiting my grandparents in the lush highlands of Borneo! I’ll do a visual post sometime later in the week, and if you ever drop by Borneo…that is the place to visit 😀

I am already adapting to the heat and humidity here (think 38°C) so wearing a kaftan in black isn’t tooo bad on my list of ‘Borneo Wear’. Kaftans normally do not have any inner linings and is 100% cotton to allow your skin breath. Knee-length kaftans normally have slits on either side but I sewed up the sides so that I can wear it as a dress.

Kaftans are great to use from day to night. Here’s how I wear it as a day look. Fold the sleeves, and clinch a belt on your waist to give the kaftan shape! Tip: I refrain from belting right beneath my bust to create a ‘grecian’ look with this particular kaftan because it gives me a belly. Not good. Besides, a skinny belt on the waist creates a casual daytime look for the kaftan!

I am barely smiling because there were mosquitos flying around my legs and they were trying to suck me dry. Believe me, I wished mosquitos were never created during the creation of the world! Note: Mosquitos swarm after it rains.

DIY arm party! I am also selling the white wrap bracelet here if you’d like to take a look 😀

It’s now nearly 4 months (time flies so quickly!) that I’ve dip-dyed my hair in Edinburgh and even though friends have noticed that my hair is getting lighter than when I first got back to Borneo (almost 2 months) I don’t seem to notice any change. Do you? In any case I’m still loving my hair so I’m keeping it still 😉

Though…since I’ve passed my UK Bar exams (I’m training to be a lawyer) and will be properly entering the workforce soon, I might not have the liberty of having dip-dyed hair 😦 I will be heading to London sometime in November for my Call to the Bar so if any readers are free, it’d be awesome to meet up! 😀

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The Author

This blog is my creative outlet where I create tutorials of my DIY projects. Creating something that I can call my own is always so much fun, so I hope you have fun too. Enjoy your stay and thank you for popping by! Have a burning desire to ask me something? Email me at: write.to.cinnamonspring@gmail.com